Concept

The role of the Fire Arrow assault fighter is to insert a four person fireteam from an orbiting ship to the surface, provide fire and
logistical support for those troops in the field, and then extract them
back to orbit at the end of their mission. In that respect, it is
similar in capabilities to an interface-capable Grav Infantry Fighting
Vehicle (G-IFV), except that it has evolved from ship design rather than
from grav vehicle design. This means that, unlike a grav vehicle, the
assault fighter can be employed in a close orbit or space combat role if
necessary.

Conventionally, when assault troops are deployed from orbit in small
craft, they are carried in sections or larger. While this may be cost
effective in terms of the investment required, it exposes the assault
force to ground fire that could lead to the loss of a significant
proportion of its strength. In addition, if the craft is not armoured,
it tends to be withdrawn from the battlefield after dropping the troops,
thus leaving them without any transport on the surface.

The assault fighter concept attempts to address these issues. They are
faster and more agile than normal small craft so they are less
vulnerable to ground fire while in transit, and they expose a smaller
proportion of the assault force to being lost. Once they have deployed
their troops, they stay in the vicinity to offer direct fire support
where they can provide more firepower per head than most G-IFVs. When
the area is secure, they can land and provide the fire team with shelter
either inside or under the cover of the armoured wings. The troops can
also recharge equipment using the power plant, resupply from the small
cargo space and take advantage of the onboard comms and sensors aboard
the craft. They can also provide rapid transport for the fire team
around the operational area.

If the troops are equipped with grav belts then the assault fighter does
not even have to land to deploy or recover the team. It can fly over the
battlefield at treetop altitude and the troops can exit from the rear
door using their grav belts to land. Conversely, to recover troops, the
craft flies low over the battlefield and the troops use their grav belts
to fly up and into the craft. This cannot be done while the fighter is
travelling at full speed but it does prevent the craft from having to
stop and land, thus reducing its vulnerability.

When they are not on the ground, the fighters can be deployed in a space
combat role to protect their assault carrier. While they do not carry as
much punch as a dedicated space fighter would, they can still be
effective against other ships if necessary. Alternatively, they can be
used to deliver their troops for boarding actions.

History

The Fire Arrow assault fighter is a product of the Dimorphic Design
Bureau (DDB) on Respite (Glimmerdrift Reaches 2620). It is principally
aimed at the TL12+ military market. Ironically, creating an assault
fighter was not the original goal. The original design was a
collaboration between DDB and Respite ZGE (Zero Gravity Engineering),
the local shipyard. A couple of years previously, during a lull in
orders, the shipyard had created a disc-shaped heavy fighter prototype,
but had not been able to bring the project to fruition before rising
demand caused work on it to be cancelled as resources were needed
elsewhere. The partially completed spaceframe was consigned to a corner
of the yard and would have languished there until it was eventually
broken up for scrap. However, one of the ZGE designers moved to work at
DDB and found that they were working on a similarly shaped small craft.
Consequently, the two companies joined forces with ZGE providing the
spaceframe and DDB the additional design work.

The initial aim was to create a vehicle with which to study the flight
dynamics of this type of spaceframe and to act as a testbed for various
flight systems. Therefore, the spaceframe was adjusted to accommodate a
module holding a Model/5 computer for data collection and analysis along
with seating for a pilot and two technicians. Positioning the attitude
drive elements in many clusters around the rim of the disc gave the
craft superior agility in both space and atmosphere and increased
survivability in case any were lost.

The craft was extensively used for testing in the Respite system until,
by chance, it came to the notice of a Major Tallow who commanded a
mercenary unit, Ishorien Support, which provided logistics and
intelligence services to mercenary combat units. Feeling that it would
make a good mobile analysis or command centre, he ordered two units. Two
years later, Tallow’s unit was in trouble as the mercenary operation
they were part of crumbled around them. Forced to make an emergency
evacuation, Tallow pulled the Model/5 modules from both craft and packed
them with as many bodies as physically possible.
When the mercenaries regrouped, they found that a small group had become
isolated by the fighting. Tallow’s craft were the only air transport
immediately available and the mercenary colonel in charge commandeered
them immediately. Using their high speed and agility, the craft were
able to evade the enemy forces and make the recovery. They then
subsequently served as general air transport for the remainder of the
operation. When the fighting was finally over, the mercenaries involved
passed an after action report back to DDB and ZGE praising the
performance of the craft. It was the discussion caused by this report
that eventually resulted in the Fire Arrow assault fighter.

The Fire Arrow still has the 16m diameter, disc shaped hull of the
Morph/23, but the nose section has been cut back to accommodate the
weapons package consisting of a fusion gun and missile rack mounted
under the chin. On the underside is a launcher containing 8 small
rockets with grenade sized warheads. These are fired ahead of the craft
and are designed to create a shallow man sized foxhole in the ground in
preparation for the troops to use. The foxhole rockets are unguided and
are of marginal offensive value. The topside of the disc curves up over
the engines and crew compartment to a point 2.5m above the rim while on
the underside it curves down to 0.75m below the rim.

The crew of pilot and gunner sit side by side with the four man fire
team seated sideways in a line behind them, ready to exit through the
rear doors. On the wall facing the fire team are storage lockers and two
fold down bunks. The lower bunk obstructs the foot space and can only
really be used when no one is seated. The upper bunk can be used when
the fire team is seated because it is above knee level. However, it does
obstruct entry and exit via the rear doors because it blocks the
standing room. In practice, troops in the field seem to prefer to dig a
foxhole under the landed Fire Arrow so that they have good protection
over their heads. A ceiling hatch is fitted just behind the crew seats
and has been known for someone to stand head and shoulders out of the
hatch firing personal weapons, even while the craft is in flight.

The avionics are mounted either side of the cockpit and the engines and
powerplant are in two pods either side of the troop compartment. The
rear doors swing outwards to give troops exiting or entering the craft
while it is in flight protection from the engines. The craft has a
tricycle skid undercarriage and when landed there is about 1.25m between
the floor of the troop compartment and the ground. The undercarriage
also lowers a step below the rear doors to make entering and exiting the
craft easier.

If necessary, the fire team seating can be removed from the craft to
increase the cargo space. Some owners have also modified the fighters to
replace seating with computers, comms equipment or stretcher racks for
casualty evacuation. The use of extra avionics is facilitated because
the original connection provided on the original Morph23 for its Model/5
is still present in the Fire Arrow wiring.

One notable user of the Fire Arrow is the mercenary company Hagnar’s
Guard. This large outfit has developed two types of assault carrier
which are used for delivering and supporting forces using the
Fire
Arrow. The Dragonship carries a 328 person unit with 55
Fire Arrows and
the smaller Karve carries a 63 person unit with 10
Fire Arrows. Hagnar’s
Guard are known to operate one Dragonship and at least two
Karves, but
the carriers are usually dispersed in different operations, so are
rarely seen together. The finance required to setup and operate such a
force is considerable and the rumour in the industry is that the Guard
are supported by the Sorenson Group, an engineering mega-corporation. A
direct link has never been substantiated but the Guard have certainly
been employed by Sorenson on a number of occasions.

The details of the carriers and the organisation of the units follows.

Notes:

The price of the carriers includes the Fire Arrow assault fighters and
pinnaces.

Fire Arrow pilots and gunners are included in the marine headcount as
they are part of that unit rather than of the carrier crew. Flight deck
and pinnace personnel are part of the carrier crew.

Unless otherwise required to replace the main bridge, the backup bridges
are used as an operations centre by the marines.

Both carriers have more staterooms than are strictly required, to
support single cabins and offices for key personnel and to allow for
changes in the ship’s complement.

Task Force Organisation

The Dragonship Task force consists of four infantry platoons and a
support platoon, each fully-manned at 60. There is additionally a
headquarters (HQ) section of 18 and a carrier party of ten, for a total
strength of 328. 55 Fire Arrows are assigned.

The Karve task force consists of one infantry platoon, theoretically
assigned as above, and a carrier party of three. There are ten
Fire
Arrows assigned; the carrier party consists of the quartermaster SNCO, a
communications technician, and a general technician, for a total
strength of 63.